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As all Comet stores are due to have stopped trading by 18听December, with no sign of a rescue plan for the consumer electronics chain, Stephanie McGovern reports for 成人论坛 Inside Out on what went wrong.

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Once a great Yorkshire brand, retail giant Comet听was founded in 1933 in Hull, and听went into administration on 2nd听November almost 80 years after it began trading.

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Last year Comet and its warranty business Triptych were sold for 拢2. The buyer was OpCapita a private investment company headed by American Henry Jackson.

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Andrew Buckley, who was made redundant in November from his job as a Sales Manager at Comet in Halifax, argues that the turnaround of the ailing business was working.

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He said: 鈥淲e were told we were now going to be focussing on profit and profit alone. They called it 鈥榗ash margin鈥�, that was the terminology. All stores were pretty much hitting this target, this 鈥榗ash margin鈥� target. We were told that we were breaking even. (鈥�) In fact, I received my last pay cheque that included a bonus based on profit. We just feel that it鈥檚 far too easy for companies to be placed into administration.鈥�

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OpCapita has provided 成人论坛 Inside Out with a statement which includes an apology to Comet workers and highlights their efforts to revive the loss-making business. It explains how Comet wasn鈥檛 able to obtain credit on competitive terms and that led to a squeeze of funds for its working capital.

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OpCapita went on to say: 鈥淭o trade at Christmas would have needed a very substantial further injection of capital and with no realistic prospect of obtaining it the Board had no option but to appoint administrators.鈥�

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It has been reported that money could be made from Comet鈥檚 collapse. OpCapita points out that only the administrators can say what level of recoveries will be paid to creditors.

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Under insolvency law all the workers will get statutory redundancy paid by the government and they could also be due a payment for the lack of consultation.

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Solicitor Victoria Robertson who is representing the Comet workers said: 鈥淭he thing that we are advising them on is their collective consultation rights (鈥�) Where 20 or more redundancies are made, the employees have a right to be consulted.鈥�

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Former Comet worker Mike Rotherham said: 鈥淥ur contracts state you are meant to have a consultation period, you鈥檙e meant to have 90 days notice, we鈥檝e not been given any of it, absolutely nothing.鈥�

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If an employment tribunal finds in their favour this could be paid from the public purse.

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Many Comet workers are now calling for a government investigation into the collapse of the company. They want to know why the law allows investors to walk away and leave the taxpayer to pick up the redundancy bill.

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Colder and wetter summers with an increased risk of severe flooding could become the norm for Britain, climatologists have warned.

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on the 成人论坛 News website.

Comet stores are to close their doors for the last time on Tuesday, bringing the failed electrical retailer's 79-year history to an end.

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on the 成人论坛 News website.